Japanese White Pine

 

Last week when I was out working I discovered a tree that is new to me. That's not saying much when it comes to ornamentals. There are many trees and shrubs planted in gardens that I might not be familiar with at all. But it was very pretty and I wanted to see if I could identify it. That was actually pretty easy.

The tree is young, and so far the growth form isn't much to look at, but I wanted to show you the overview.





When I looked at the needles and then I got really interested. Each one has a white stripe along its length. I pulled out a bundle and counted five needles per sheath, the same as native White Pine, Pinus strobus.



The cones are interesting too, with curved and rounded scales, looking sort of like the plates of some ancient crustacean.



It didn't take much research to learn that this is Japanese White Pine, Pinus parviflora. As it turns out, I may have seen it before, but not recognized it. The species is a favorite for Bonsai. Since I always look at the Bonsai display at the Philadelphia Flower Show (sure hope I get to go in 2015!), I may have some pictures of carefully trimmed ones. I just looked at former blog posts, and have not featured one however.

It's supposedly a nice ornamental for gardens too. I suspect this one needs some trimming to make it look less scraggly.

I don't think I'll forget this evergreen, and hopefully I'll be paying more attention to what's been done with the specimen next time I see it.

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